Wealthy Arab donors, Afghan businessmen and even Pakistan's powerful and secretive spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, have all reduced or stopped funding, each for their own reasons.

The money dried up because the United States stopped shipping literal pallets of cash directly to our enemies, stopped sending on convoys supplying them with staples they could turn for a profit and stopped bombing the shiat out of weddings so the local populace had one less reason to be enraged at us.

Philip J. Fry:Wealthy Arab donors, Afghan businessmen and even Pakistan's powerful and secretive spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, have all reduced or stopped funding, each for their own reasons.

The money dried up because the United States stopped shipping literal pallets of cash directly to our enemies, stopped sending on convoys supplying them with staples they could turn for a profit and stopped bombing the shiat out of weddings so the local populace had one less reason to be enraged at us.

But yeah, maybe those other things actually did it.

Well, the Taliban aren't really Al Qaeda, and those trying to (re)establish governance over regions require something resembling legitimacy. Losing major foreign support does in those fledgling(or collapsing) movements. I have no doubt some members of the taliban can "live off the land" and rely on their sympathizers and black markets like you say, but it's not enough support to actively hold territory against a standing army.

//This is why the Union blockades of the confederates are ultimately what won the civil war.///It's also part of why "2nd amendment solutions" are a pipe dream.

Philip J. Fry:Wealthy Arab donors, Afghan businessmen and even Pakistan's powerful and secretive spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, have all reduced or stopped funding, each for their own reasons.

The money dried up because the United States stopped shipping literal pallets of cash directly to our enemies, stopped sending on convoys supplying them with staples they could turn for a profit and stopped bombing the shiat out of weddings so the local populace had one less reason to be enraged at us.

Also, I love the look of that RPG the guy has, with all the nicks on the head of it, like he's been dragging it across the desert for a decade and ran it over with a jeep at least once, and isn't sure if it actually works... just a prop piece they've been dragging out for photo ops since the 70s

FTA:People familiar with the Taliban's finances say the organization's main sources of revenue have dried up.Wealthy Arab donors, Afghan businessmen and even Pakistan's powerful and secretive spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, have all reduced or stopped funding, each for their own reasons.

well, there is still all that money they get supplying the raw opium for the international heroin trade, but something tells me that ends up in the hands of "Taliban" Warlords like Heykatmar, and doesn't trickle down to anyone doing the actual fighting

BTW I just read the comments and I am now stuck blind by their sheer idiocy. Good thing I know how to touch type

He says he has left the front lines. As much as he wants to rejoin the jihad, he doesn't dare go back until he repays the $2,000 he owes his neighbors. He's not afraid to die, he says. What scares him is the idea that he might die with an outstanding loan. "Anytime I'm out there, I could be martyred," he says. "And God does not forgive anyone-even a martyr-who dies without paying his just debts."

You know, if the US military would just team up with a few of America's sleazier credit card companies, and rent-to-own places and/or payday lenders; I can see a real easy way to end this war and provide a win-win for everybody involved-on our side at least

Actually you can probably praise Bush about this mostly (see look I am saying good things about the other side when they deserve it). The anti-terrorism laws he put in to place that froze cash for terrorist organizations and made it much harder for them to get money through legitimate means was probably one of the biggest things he did to actually hurt terrorist organizations.

Those laws predate Bush. I mean, the changes were basically "If you(a bank that operates in the US) suspect that the newly opened account is suspicious and may be used for drug money or terrorist funding, you are required to freeze their assets and report it to the feds"

Corvus:Don't read the comments of that article. It's 100% pure derp. It will explode your brain.

So... the big reveal is that republicans think Obama is pro-terrorist? I mean a lot of them think that he's the literal incarnation of human evil spawned to take over the world, it's not like being wrong is any problem for them.

So... the big reveal is that republicans think Obama is pro-terrorist? I mean a lot of them think that he's the literal incarnation of human evil spawned to take over the world, it's not like being wrong is any problem for them.

So... the big reveal is that republicans think Obama is pro-terrorist? I mean a lot of them think that he's the literal incarnation of human evil spawned to take over the world, it's not like being wrong is any problem for them.

I have no idea how anyone could look at the Obama Administration's record on terrorism and say they are "soft on terrorism", unless the sum total of their analysis is "He's a blah person and his name sounds kinda Muslin to me, so he must love them turrists."

So... the big reveal is that republicans think Obama is pro-terrorist? I mean a lot of them think that he's the literal incarnation of human evil spawned to take over the world, it's not like being wrong is any problem for them.

Yes even though reality is that he took out OBL and Bush gave up on him. He actually surged troop levels in Afghanistan their fantasy world is that he is "pro-terrorist".

I wanted to make an account just so I could have replied "Boy you guys are really butt hurt that Obama took out Osama Bin Ladin and Bush gave up on him".

Well, they made you broke first.One Hellfire Missile is about $70k, and I have seen a million FLIR videos of one or two dickbags going splat with one. Could you imagine a government willing to spend $70k on ONE person, for say healthcare or education? Makes me shudder....

So... the big reveal is that republicans think Obama is pro-terrorist? I mean a lot of them think that he's the literal incarnation of human evil spawned to take over the world, it's not like being wrong is any problem for them.

Well what makes me laugh is the fact that all of the evil things Obama is doing that continues from the Bush legacy (NSA searches, drone strikes, keeping Gitmo opened [though he was blocked on that by pussy politicans who think closing Gitmo means the prisoners there will be running around freely in their state!]) are stuff that the general amount of Republicans who are pundits, politicians, or news people, would praise another Republican president for if elected after Obama's term is over. It's only "evil" until their guy is the one running things, than it's "patriotic" to never question the Republican president's actions or motives behind those actions. Point out the evil things that both sides do and help fix them Republicans, don't just give empty rhetoric to attempt to get reelected.

/of course who am I kidding, of course they'll continue on as usual and not do anything actually constructive for this country